


Rebenok

by Space_and_Thyme



Series: Winter's Child [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Everyone's relatively happy, Gen, Infinity War never happened, Neither did the end of Civil War, Original Character(s), Stucky is more implied, The works are more domestic and how Bucky's adopted a teenaged girl that was in need
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 12:38:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15267669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_and_Thyme/pseuds/Space_and_Thyme
Summary: “No more strays! Tony’s statement had been clear – his order, even if unheeded, had been given.Steve nodded his agreement, and apologized, stating that he would not do it again – that he had only brought her home because he had felt in his heart that it was the right thing to do – the only thing to do. That it was honorable. He couldn’t just leave her behind.





	Rebenok

**Author's Note:**

> Rating is because there are a few bits of graphic elements to the violence. So... just being safe.

“No more strays! Tony’s statement had been clear – his order, even if unheeded, had been given.

Steve nodded his agreement, and apologized, stating that he would not do it again – that he had only brought her home because he had felt in his heart that it was the right thing to do – the only thing to do. That it was honorable. He couldn’t just leave her behind.

In the end, Tony conceded. He agreed that it had had to be done, and conceded to Steve’s newest project to live within the walls of the Avengers’ compound, as long as it didn’t jeopardize the team.

Steve had agreed to the terms, wholeheartedly, and pledged himself to her upkeep.

But it hadn’t been Steve Rogers who had acquired the girl.

It hadn’t been Steve Rogers who saw a small and seemingly sickly child in need, and found himself unable to leave her behind.

It was Bucky.

And, it hadn’t been in New York as Tony had assumed.

A recent mission had taken the Avengers to the other side of the country. Once the quinjet had landed, they had separated off to do their individual reconnaissance.

That was when Bucky saw her the first time – he’d been scouting out the best place to hunker down with his sniper rifle when the battle came. He’d be looking for the place that offered the best conditions for him to cover their backs from a distance.

She had looked small, desperate, and filthy when he first laid eyes upon her. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen, and looked younger. It was just her, and a small dog that seemed to be a Brussels Griffon, sitting on a park bench when he walked passed her the first time.

He found his anchorage north of the park, on the roof of an abandoned warehouse. From there, Bucky could see for miles – he’d be able to anticipate the rate at which their enemies approached, and the height would lend a little more distance to his shot. But, the image of that young girl and her dog continued to gnaw at him, even as he separated his mind into two compartments – one for the task at hand, the other allowed to wonder how the girl came to be out there, clearly homeless.

He had done everything he could for that day – there wasn’t nothing left but to plan for the inevitable clash between the Avengers, and Hydra in the following days. So, with nothing left to do but wait, Bucky turned his mind away from the violence, and turned instead to the young girl.

He knew what it was like to have nothing. To be desperate and on the street – he knew what it was like to scrounge to live – and he knew what it was like to that while trying his best to look after a person that depended on him. In the slumped shoulders of the girl which seemed to carry the weight of the world, he saw the mirror of himself, 70 years passed.

He push the emotion aside – it wasn’t going to help to dwell on the days when he and Steve lived in a tiny flat together in Brooklyn, before the War, before their lives had been irrevocably changed. Soldiering on, Bucky instead marched into the nearest department store – which was still a strange feeling for him – and set about his self-appointed mission.

He bought a large, seemingly warm, blanket, two hoodies, a couple of pairs of jeans in a size he estimated the girl to be from the look he got at her, a decent pair of shoes – also in a estimated size – a couple of note books with pens, a large 3 litre bottle of water, a bag of dog food, a box of protein bars, a gift card usable at a multitude of restaurants (worth $300), and a large backpack to carry it all in.

With the kit hanging over his right shoulder, Bucky approached the girl and her amusingly grumpy looking dog in the same way that one approaches a wounded animal. He didn’t want to frighten her, though even without the metal arm being visible, he recognized that his general stature and physique would likely be terrifying to the young girl. If nothing else, he knew that his size made him look like a threat.

Her name was Violet.

She was only 14.

She had been born in a warzone, one that Bucky was relieved to know he had had no part in. She and her parents had immigrated to America when she was six years old. But, her father had died just a few years ago, and her mother was a hateful woman who didn’t deserve to have a daughter. Violet had escaped, with her dog, only to realize that she had nowhere to go.

She had been living on the streets for three months, scrounging and scrapping to make her way through. But it was autumn, and the winter was coming. The cold was lingering in the air every evening, though the days were still warm. She was afraid, she didn’t know what to do – going home was no longer an option – though as far as she was concerned it never had been.

She reminded Bucky so much of Steve before the ma had been turned into a Super Soldier, that his heart made the decision, and his logic followed.

He called her _Rebenok_ , and though her eyes seemed to light up, she confessed that she didn’t understand the meaning of the word.

The battle came sooner that he’d imagined.

When he had been Hydra’s dog of war, he had timed his battles, and his arrival, for the greatest impact. While Hydra was still strong without him, their military organization amongst their agents, seemed lacking. It was hurried, and ill-planned at times.

It came only hours after Bucky’d scoped out the area and found his cover.

By the time he laid himself along the ground, barely breathing as he looked down the barrel of his rifle, his mind was entirely decided.

The decision was made the moment he’d seen his _Rebenok_ through the scope of his rifle. The hair stood up on the back of his neck, and his blood boiled in anger.

Hydra was going after her – because she was a child, and she was alone. Bucky knew what would become of Violet if they got to her before he did, and he couldn’t allow it.

Taking a deep breath and holding it, he took aim. Easing the breath out passed his barely parted lips, he squeezed the trigger. Three times.

He’d taken down the three Hydra agents who were cornering Violet and her dog, with three perfectly placed shots – each of them receiving a bullet between the eyes. And it had happened in the blink of an eye.

Bucky abandoned his cover, and raced down the stairs of the old warehouse, before sprinting into the park. He had to get to Violet before anyone else did – where there were three, there were likely more ready to swarm.

When he reached the scene, Violet was standing in the middle of the carnage, complete in shock. Regrettably, one of the kills had splattered her front with blood. She was pale, and wide-eyed, barely able to breathe as her body quaked with adrenaline.

Bucky approached slowly, worried that the sight of his metal arm – exposed for battle (he enjoyed the way the enemy still reacted to realizing that were facing against the weapon they created – the Winter Soldier) – would set her over the edge. She was just a child.

Violet was in shock – the men who had had her cornered, were now suddenly lying dead at her feet, with severe cranial damage from the 50 caliber bullet which had taken them down. Her pulse was racing, body quivering with panic and frozen between Fight or Flight responses – stuck on the edge of numbing shock, and a complete breakdown.

The flash of sunlight off of silver caught her eye – forcing her attention away from the horror she’d passed through in the last few moments. She turned her hazel eyes, slowly, towards the glimmer of light. She saw the man who’d treated her with kindness just hours before, now strutting towards her. Her heart leapt again – was he here to capture her too? What had she done to anyone?!

But he fell to his knees before her, just outside the ring of massacred Hydra agents. The metal hand immediately tucked itself into his lap, an attempt to avoid frightening her any more, as he carefully reached out to her with his right, flesh, hand.

The dog didn’t even growl at him, though she was quaking with fear as well.

“ _Rebenok_ …” though his voice was deep, and he had the look of a soldier to him, as well as a metal arm which recalibrated itself to every infinitesimal move that he made with the soft whirring of internal servos as the plates shifted, Violet felt a wave of calm suddenly crash over her.

A well of emotions that had built up for months, years, a lifetime, plus the danger and sudden escape from it, suddenly got the best of her.

As Bucky reached out tentatively for her, to keep her calm, Violet threw herself forward – crashing her small frame into his immoveable chest. Her arms immediately wrapped around him, hugging him as tightly as her shock weakened arms would allow her. The tears overwhelmed her, and she wept into the black leather and denim that covered his chest. Beside them, the dog let out a little ‘ _wuff!_ ’ of indignation.

Bucky could not leave her.

Bucky had carried her back to his sniper’s perch, where he anchored himself down once more.

The ordeal had left the young girl exhausted, as all the energy had drained from her bones. She sagged against his side, as he lay over his rifle, and sheltered herself under the cool weight of the titanium arm.

When the team took to the quinjet to return to New York, Bucky told them  he’d catch up – they had been reluctant of course, given his past, but Bucky’d promised he be home in a few days. That he only wanted to make sure the threat was completely neutralized. In the end, they agreed.

He left the city with Violet within the hour after the quinjet left. Stealing one of the SUVs left behind by the now dead Hydra operatives, Bucky’d driven himself and the girl at breakneck speed to the next state. He knew that the battle would end up on the news, and he didn’t want the poor child to be re-victimized when the news lead her mother to her. So he’d grabbed her, tossed her into the passenger seat, and taken off the second he was in the car.

He’d not even stopped to grab the pack he’d bought for her earlier in the day – he could replace it all later. Right now, they needed to disappear for her safety.

Two hours later, they pulled off the road into a remote, but cheap, motel. He booked the room, stating that Violet was his daughter – even though the two of them were polar opposites in appearance. Violet had Steve’s honey-coloured hair, unlike his own dark chestnut hair. The manager hadn’t cared enough to argue, especially given that Bucky had paid him well. As he walked with Violet to their room, going up the outside stairwell towards the second level of the motel, Bucky suddenly realized why the manager didn’t care. The connotation made his stomach turn, and his skin crawl – even the metal plates in his arm shifted in disgust.

Bucky left her with a spare burner phone that he kept with him at all times – telling her to call him if she needed him right away. She was scared, but nodded quietly, and Bucky left her at the motel to restock their provisions. He made sure the door and windows of the room were thoroughly barred, in the off chance that someone thought that they could get to Violet.

When he came back, he had blankets, clothing, shoes, food, and hygiene products. The poor girl looked like she’d been unable to fully shower in ages, and he knew what it felt like to go without the most basic self-care. He wanted her to relax and regain some of herself after the repeated blows of the last few years.

He promised her he’d be just outside the door of their room, so that she had the space and the shower to herself without worry. Allowing her all the privacy that the motel room could provide – all of the privacy that he had not had for 70 years. He promised her that he would be right there if she needed him.

Honey coloured hair soaking wet, dressed in a pair of pink-plaid pyjama bottoms, with a black hoodie that was easily three sizes too big wrapped around her thin shoulders (It was Bucky’s – as he’d bundled her into it the moment the battle was over, and gave it to her to keep), Violet carefully approached him – timid from years of trauma.

He heard her approaching as he leaned his arms against the railing outside of their room, but waited for her to speak before he turned to her – wanting to give her as much agency as he could, knowing it had been denied her for many years.

“Bucky?” her voice was quiet.

He turned his head, glancing back over his shoulder towards her. “Yes, _Rebenok_?”

Tears came to Violet’s eyes as he spoke the name softly – she studied his face and saw there the same tired eyes that she herself bore, and the same damaged smile. She swallowed tightly around the lump forming in her throat. “Thank you…”

Bucky returned to New York two days later, with the girl that he’d adopted. As far as he was concerned, Violet Novy was now Violet Barnes… or Violet Rogers. They’d worry about her name later.

He’d managed to reason with JARVIS enough to bring the young girl and her dog into the Avengers’ tower, where he brought her immediately to the floor that he shared with Steve. He trusted Steve to be currently in the gym, as well as he trusted him to understand that the girl was his daughter now – and no one was going to hurt her ever again.

Steve conceded, after seeing the poor just swimming in Bucky’s sweater, and noting the hollow, scared, look in her eyes. The story which Bucky told him, cemented the agreement – they would care for the young girl, and raise her together. They were her family now.

Of course, Steve willingly took the responsibility when Tony complained that he’d brought home a stray – not that Tony truly minded. There was more than enough room for the girl, and for some reason, she preferred to live with Steve and Bucky on their floor.

Much to the surprise of the others, who thought it had been Steve that brought the young woman into their lives, Violet seemed to adore the reformed assassin – had taken to Bucky the moment they met. It had caught Tony off guard, that she’d rest her head on Bucky’s shoulder – even the metal one – when she sat between him and Steve in the large communal entertainment room.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize - I don't speak Russian, and I've been trying to find an endearment all day, before conceding and going with "Rebenok" ... I am ... fairly... sure that it means "Child" ?? If someone can confirm this for me, or help me with that, that'd be lovely too.


End file.
